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ADDRESS 


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ST^^TE     or    p.A.IL.IFOI?.l^q■I^A.^ 


Hon.  JOHN  SWETT, 


BEFORE  THE  STATE  TEACHERS'  INSTITUTE, 


JJeld  in  Snn  Vrancisco,  May  7th,  1867 . 


SAN    FRANCISCO: 
rowNE:'^&.- Bacon,  Book  and  Job  Printers,  Excelsior  Office, 

No.  536  Clay  Street,  just  below  Montgomery. 
1867. 


EXCHANGE 


ADDRESS. 


Four  years  ago,  many  of  you  now  before  me,  were  present  at 
the  largest  and  most  enthusiastic  gathering  of  teachers  that  ever 
assembled  in  this  State.  I  remember  well  the  circumstances  under  ' 
which  we  met.  The  army  of  the  Potomac  had  been  driven  back 
from  the  disastrous  field  of  Chancellorsville  ;  the  rebel  hordes  were 
already  on  their  march  into  the  heart  of  the  North :  and  wounded, 
bleeding,  and  exhausted,  the  nation  seemed  to  be  gathering  its  pow- 
ers for  the  final  wager  of  battle  which  should  determine  its  fate 
forever.  The  star  of  treason  seemed  to  be  in  the  ascendant.  Reb- 
els were  exultant  and  patriots  despondent.  Yicksburg  could  neverj 
be  taken ;  Port  Hudson  was  impregnable ;  and  Lee  would  soon 
lay  New  York  in  ashes.  In  two  short  months  Grant  had  strangled 
Vicksburg;  Port  Hudson  had  fallen;  Gettysburg,  made  immortal 
by  victory,  was  consecrated  by  the  graves  of  thousands  of  heroes 
who  died  that  we  might  live  ;  the  tide  of  invasion  was  rolled  back, 
and  the  nation  was  saved.  Then  followed  in  swift  and  glorious"" 
succession :  Chattanooga,  the  fall  of  Atlanta,  the  annihilation  of 
Hood,  Sherman's  triumphal  march  through  Georgia  and  South  Car- 
olina, the  desperate  struggles  of  the  Wilderness,  the  decisive  bat- 
tle of  Five  Forks,  the  surrender  of  Lee,  and  the  war  was  ended^ 

The  exultation  of  victory,  and  the  gladness  of  peace  were  sad- 
dened by  the  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  last  great 
victim  of  the  barbarism  of  slavery ;  and  a  new  political  contest 
began  for  the  preservation  of  the  civil  rights  which  had  been  won 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

Thanks  to  the  wisdom,  prudence  and  patriotism  of  the  Thirty-  / 
ninth  Congress,  victory  again  crowned  the  banner  of  progress,  and 
the  nation  is  to  be  reconstructed  on  the  eternal  principles  of  jus- 
tice.    No  grander  record  of  Freedom  and  Nationality  was  ever 
made. 


"^oerr^/i  <r^#n> 


The  work  is  done,  and  well  done ;  and  we  may  exclaim  with  Wil- 
liam CuUen  Bryant : 

O  thou  great  Wrong,  that  through  the  slow-paced  years 

Didst  hold  thy  millions  fettered,  and  didst  wield 

The  scourge  that  drove  the  laborer  to  the  field. 
And  look  with  stony  eye  on  human  tears, 
Thy  cruel  reign  is  o'er ; 
Thy  bondmen  crouch  no  more 
In  terror  at  the  menace  of  thine  eye ; 
•    For  He  who  marks  the  bounds  of  guilty  power, 
Long  suffering,  hath  heard  the  captive's  cry, 

And  touched  his  shackles  at  the  appointed  hour. 
And  lo  !  they  fall,  and  he  whose  limbs  they  galled 
Stands  in  his  native  manhood,  disenthralled. 

A  shout  of  joy  from  the  redeemed  is  sent ; 

Ten  thousand  hamlets  swell  the  hymn  of  thanks  ; 

Our  rivers  roll  exulting,  and  their  banks 
Send  up  hosannas  to  the  firmanent. 

Fields,  where  the  bondman's  toil 
No  more  shall  trench  the  soil, 
Seem  now  to  bask  in  a  serener  day ; 

The  meadow-birds  sing  sweeter,  and  the  airs 
Of  Heaven  with  more  caressing  softness  play, 

Welcoming  man  to  liberty  like  theirs. 
A  glory  clothes  the  land  from  sea  to  sea. 
For  the  great  land  and  all  its  coasts  are  free. 

During  this  eventful  period,  amid  the  upheavals  of  the  transition 
epoch  of  the  nation,  in  all  the  loyal  States,  the  public  schools  have 
quietly  and  steadily  gained  strength.  The  war  has  proved  their ' 
value,  and  demonstrated  their  necessity  to  the  existence  of  a  free 
people.  Where  would  the  nation  have  been  to-day,  but  for  the 
intelligence  imparted  by  free  schools  during  the  last  quarter  of  a 
century  ?  Who  fought  our  battles  but  the  men  drilled  into  patriots  ^ 
by  the  public  schools  ?  In  the  great  political  campaigns  since  the 
war,  what  but  the  general  diffusion  of  intelhgence  has  kept  the 
people  true  to  freedom  ?  The  character  and  opinions  of  the  men 
whose  will,  expressed  through  the  ballot  box,  makes  and  amends 
constitutions,  have  been  formed  in  the  public  schools. 

Into  the  regions  of  rebellion  and  ignorance,  free  schools  havei 
followed  in  the  track  of  Union  armies.     The  gleam  of  intelligence  j  \ 
already  begins  to  illuminate  the  dusky  faces  of  the  children  of  a^ 
race  long  enslaved. 

The  old  flag  of  a  new  nation  now  floats  over  every  foot  of  the  . 
old  republic,  and   everywhere   under  its   protecting  folds   every 


3^ 


human  being  may  claim  the  right  of  free  labor,  free  speech,  free 
thought,  and  free  schools. 

Turning  from  these  grand  historical  events  of  the  nation,  to  our 
own  young  State  on  the  outer  verge  of  the  continent,  let  us  mark 
its  educational  progress. 

Since  the  Institute  of  1863,  our  public  schools  have  been  quietly 
and  peacefully  revolutionized.     In  the  grand  events  of  national  his-  i 
tory,  in  the  building  of  cities,  the  construction  of  roads,  the  settle-  ^ 
ment  of  land  titles,  and  the  excitement  of  life  incident  to  a  new  ) 
State,  the  progress  of  schools  is  hardly  noticed  except  by  those  who  / 
are  most  directly  interested  in  them.     Then,  we  had  little  to  be 
proud  of  in  our  educational  record  ;  now,  California  will  not  suffer 
by  comparison  with  the  most  progressive  educational  States  in  the 
Union. 

Then,  the  annual  amount  of  money  expended  for  public  schools, 
was  ^80,000  ;  noiv,  it  is  nearly  a  million. 

Then,  there  was  no  direct  State  tax  for  the  support  of  schools  ; 
now,  the  State  tax  is  eight  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars,  giving 
an  annual  revenue  from  this  source  alone,  of  $120,000. 

Then,  the  State  apportionment  was  $130,000 ;  now,  it  is 
$260,000. 

Then,  the  amount  raised  by  county  and  city  school  taxes  was 
$294,000  ;  now,  it  is  $470,000. 

Then,  the  amount  raised  by  district  taxes,  voted  by  the  people, 
was  $7,000  ;  last  year  the  amount  was  $73,000,  or  more  than  ten 
times  the  amount  raised  in  1862. 

Then,  the  maximum  county  school  tax  allowed  by  law,  was 
twenty-five  cents,  and  the  minimum  required  to  be  levied,  nothing 
at  all;  now,  the  maximum  tax  is  thirty-five  cents,  and  the  mini- 
mum tax  must  be  equal  to  three  dollars  per  census  child,  which  in 
many  counties  requires  the  maximum  rate  of  thirty-five  cents. 

Then,  the  amount  raised  by  rate-bills  of  tuition  was  $130,000  ; 
now,  it  is  only  $79,000,  showing  a  rapid  approximation  to  a  free 
school  system.  Three-fourths  of  the  pupils  now  attend  free  schools 
during  the  year,  and  all  are  secured  by  law  the  right  of  a  free 
school,  either  for  three  months  or  five  months,  in  proportion  to  the 
size  of  district. 

Then,  the  amount  paid  for  teachers'  salaries  was  $328,000  ;  now, 
it  is  $550,000 — an  increase  of  sixty-eight  per  cent. — while  the  num- 


ber  of  teachers,  in  the  same  time,  has  increased  only  thirty-one  per 
cent. 

Then^  the  total  expenditure  for  schools  amounted  to  a  per  cent- 
age  on  the  assessment  roll  of  the  State,  of  thirty  cents  on  each 
one  hundred  dollars ;  noiv^  it  amounts  to  more  than  fifty  cents  on 
the  one  hundred  dollars. 

In  1862,  the  amount  expended  per  census  child,  was  six  dollars 
and  fifteen  cents ;  last  year,  it  was  ten  dollars  and  twenty  cents. 

In  1862,  the  amount  expended  for  school  houses,  was  $49,000  ; 
in  1865,  it  was  $257,000.  During  the  school  years  1864  and 
1865,  two  hundred  new  school  houses  were  erected.  The  total 
amount  expended  for  school  houses  in  this  State,  since  1862,  is 
greater  than  the  amount  for  the  ten  years  previous.  The  limita- 
tion of  the  tax  for  building  school  houses,  which  was  forced  upon 
the  friends  of  the  Revised  School  Law,  has  somewhat  interfered 
with  the  erection  of  buildings  during  the  past  year ;  but  this  limi- 
tation will  be  repealed  at  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature. 

Then,  the  average  length  of  the  schools  was  less  than  six  months 
in  the  year ;  now,  it  is  seven  and  four-tenths  months — an  average 
length  of  schools  which  is  exceeded  only  by  Massachusetts  and 
Nevada,  of  all  the  States  in  the  Union. 

Since  then,  while  the  number  of  census  children  has  increased 
twenty-six  per  cent.,  the  average  number  attending  the  public 
schools  has  increased  more  than  fifty  per  cent. 

The  stronger  hold  which  the  schools  have  taken  on  public  opinion, 
the  greater  skill,  earnestness  and  enthusiasm  of  teachers,  the  con- 
sequent improvement  in  methods  of  instruction  and  classification ; 
the  use  of  better  text  books  ;  the  deeper  personal  interest  of  pa- 
rents ;  the  neater  and  more  commodious  houses  :  all  these  together 
constitute  an  advancement  which  cannot  be  expressed  by  a  contrast 
/  of  statistics. 
"  Then,  we  had  no  State  educational  journal,  and  hardly  a  dozen  ' 
copies  of  the  school  journals  of  other  States  entered  the  Golden 
Gate  ;  now,  the  California  Teacher  has  a  circulation  of  2,700 
copies.  It  reaches  every  school  ofiicer  in  the  State ;  it  goes  into 
the  hands  of  every  teacher,  into  every  school  library,  and  to  every 
newspaper  in  the  State.  Many  of  its  items  of  information,  and 
educational  articles  are  largely  quoted  and  republished  by  the  news- 
paper press ;  and  the  result  is  that  the  amount  of  reading  relating 
to  schools,  put  before  the  people,  has  been  increased  a  hundred  fold. 


It  has  done  more  to  inform  Trustees,  to  awaken  professional  pride       / ' 
among  teachers,  and  to  secure  an  efficient  execution  of  the  School 
Law,  than  any  other  educational  agency  in  the  State.     It  has  cost      ; 
the  two  editors  who  nurtured  its  feeble  infancy  some  anxiety,  and 
many  a  day's  extra  work  ;  but  they  are  fully  satisfied  that  the  labor 
has  not  been  given  in  vain.  J 

Then^  the  State  Normal  School  numbered  thirty  pupils ;  now^    V 
it  has  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  enrolled,  has  graduated   sev- 
enty-eight, and  has  sent  out  a  hundred  undergraduates.  i 

Then^  we  had  no  system  of  professional  examinations  ;  no  educaT"!  ^ 
tional  society ;  no  organization,  and  little  professional  pride.     In 
fact,  a  man  generally  apologized  for  being  forced  to  resort  to  teach- 
ing until  he  could  find  something  else  to  do. 

Then^  the  "  old  schoolmasters  "  of  San  Francisco  were  examined 
every  year  by  doctors,  lawyers,  dentists,  contractors,  and  business      r 
men,  to  "  see  if  they  were  fit  to  teach  the  common  school  "  they 
had  been  teaching  years  in  succession.     There  was  no  standard  of 
qualification,  except  the  caprice  of  "  accidental  boards." 

Throughout  the  State,  examinations  were  oral,  and  in  most  cases, 
resulted  in  issuing  to  everybody  who  applied,  a  certificate  "  to  teach 
school  one  year." 

Now^  a  new  order  of  things  prevails.     Every  Board  of  Examin-  . 
ation,  whether  State,  City,  or  County,  must  be  composed  of  pro-  f 
fessional  teachers  exclusively ;  all  examinations  must  be  in  writing, 
and  in  certain  specified  studies ;  and  certificates  are  issued  for  life, 
or  for  a  length  of  time  proportioned  to  the   grade  of  certificate 
issued. 

California  is  the  only  State  in  the  Union,  in  which  teachers  have 
gained  the  legal  right  to  be  examined  exclusively  by  the  members 
of  their  own  profession,  and  we  have  just  cause  to  be  proud  of  the 
fact.  It  has  already  done  much  to  make  the  occupation  of  teach- 
ing respectable.  It  has  relieved  good  teachers  from  useless  annoy- 
ance and  humihation  ;  it  has  increased  their  self-respect,  stimu- 
lated their  ambition,  and  guarded  the  schools  against  quacks  and 
pretenders. 

Concerning  this  provision  of  the  law.  Prof.  Wm.  Russell,  of  L 
Massachusetts,  who  has  been  for  many  years  the  advocate  of  pro-  | 
fessional  certificates  for  teachers  in  the  older  States,  says  in  the"^ 
December  No.  of  BarnarcCs  Journal  of  JEducation : 


"  By  the  '  Revised  School  Law,'  approved  March  24th,  1866, 
professional  diplomas  are  classified  as  conferred  by  State,  county, 
and  city  boards  of  examination.  The  close  attention  to  details  in 
these  enactments,  indicates  the  careful  consideration  with  which 
the  measures  contemplated  have  been  prepared.  The  results  al- 
ready secured  place  the  State  of  California  on  high  vantage  ground, 
as  a  field  of  educational  labor,  inviting  the  attention  of  all  worthy 
candidates  for  the  office  of  teachers  ;  and  the  State  cannot  fail  to 
reap  a  rich  reward  for  the  noble  spirit  of  enterprise  which,  in  this 
respect,  it  has  manifested.  Its  popular  designation,  '  The  Golden 
State,'  will,  ere  many  years  shall  have  elapsed,  bear  a  new  and 
higher  meaning,  referring  to  '  riches  that  perish  not  with  the  using.' 
In  coming  years,  the  other  and  older  States,  in  which  but  a  partial 
progress  has  as  yet  been  made  toward  the  results  already  secured 
in  California,  will  gratefully  acknowledge  the  benefits  derived  from 
\Jth.e  influence  of  her  example." 

f^  Our  School  Law  is  the  only  one  in  the  United  States  which  has 
taken  broad,  professional  ground,  by  providing  that  the  diplomas  of 
State  Normal  Schools  in  other  States  shall  entitle  the  holders  to 
legal  recognition  as  teachers  in  this  State. 

The  State  Board  of  Education  has  already  issued  thirty-three 
"  State  Life  Diplomas,"  and  the  State  Board  of  Examination  has 
granted  eighty  State  Educational  Diplomas,  valid  for  six  years ; 
eighty-four  First  Grade  Certificates,  valid  for  four  years ;  eighty-two 
Second  Grade  Certificates,  valid  for  two  years ;  and  forty  Third 
Grade  Certificates,  valid  for  one  year  :  making  a  total  of  three  hun- 
dred and  nineteen  State  Certificates,  or  one-fourth  of  the  whole 
number  engaged  in  teaching  in  California. 

Throughout  the  State,  the  County  Boards  have  established  a  fair 
standard  of  qualification — the  printed  questions  of  the  State  Board 
are  generally  used — and  as  a  result,  the  old  teachers  have  become 
ambitious  to  secure  the  highest  grade  certificates,  competent 
teachers  are  secured,  and  the  schools  are  protected  against  incom- 
V  petent  ones  whose  only  recommendation  was  that  of  teaching  for 
little  or  nothing. 

I  hazard  nothing  in  saying  that  the  standard  of  qualification  re- 
quired for  the  teachers  of  ungraded  county  schools  in  this  State  is 
uniformly  higher  than  in  any  other  State  in  the  Union.  It  is  the 
testimony  of  County  Superintendents  that  our  thorough  system  of 


\ 


examinations  has  doubled  the  efficiency  of  the  common  schools  of 
the  State. 

Strange  to  say,  this  new  system  of  professional  examinations  was 
violently  opposed  four  years  ago,  and  by  none  so  vehemently  as  by 
some  common  school  teachers. 

The  world  moves  :  is  there  a  single  teacher  here  who  would  de-  I 
sire  to  have  the  old  order  of  things  re-established  ?  But  I  never  I 
doubted,  that  once  established,  it  would  remain  a  part  of  our  school  I 
system  as  long  as  schools  were  maintained.  ^^ 

""'■  It  was  my  sanguine  hope,  for  many  years,  that,  in  this  new 
State,  teaching  might  aspire  to  the  dignity  of  a  profession ;  that 
teachers  might  learn  to  combine  their  strength,  respect  themselves, 
command  the  respect  of  others,  and  honor  their  occupation.  I  have 
hved  already  to  see  the  promise  of  the  future.  It  has  been  and  is  /, . 
my  highest  ambition  to  elevate  the  profession  of  teaching ;  for  I 
well  know  that  in  no  other  way  can  the  public  schools  be  made  the 
great  educators  of  the  State  and  the  nation.  If  the  citizens  of  this 
State  desire  to  have  good  schools,  they  must  pay  professionally 
trained  teachers  high  salaries.  If  they  want  talent,  they  must  / 
buy  it.    ' 

Already  the  result  has  been  to  materially  raise  the  wages  of 
teachers,  and  to  increase  the  demand  for  professional  teachers,  in- 
stead of  itinerants. 

Four  years  ago,  outside  of  San  Francisco,  there  were  not  ten 
schools  in  the  State  which  paid  an  annual  salary  of  $1,000  ;  now, 
there  are  a  hundred  teachers  who  receive  from  $1,000  to  $1,200  a 
year. 

Trustees,  in  writing  to  the  Department  of  Instruction  for 
teachers,  say :  "  Send  us  a  professional  teacher  holding  a  State 
Diploma,  and  we  will  pay  the  very  highest  wages." 

The  salaries  of  good  female  teachers  have  been  materially  in- 
creased. San  Francisco  pays  the  highest  average  salaries  given 
to  female  teachers  in  any  public  schools  in  the  world. 

The  salary  of  the  female  assistant  in  the  State  Normal*  School  is 
$1,300  a  year,  a  salary  exceeded  by  only  three  or  four  positions  in  ^ 
the  United  States.     St.  Louis  pays  the  female  principal  of  the  City  ,' 
Normal  School  $2,000  a  year;  but  that  is  in  currency,  while  CaU-J 
fornia  salaries  are  gold. 


8 

A  dozen  women  in  this  citj  are  paid  $1,200  a  year,  and  a  score 
receive  $1,000  a  year. 

1      It  is  only  by  raising  the  standard  of  attainments  that  the  occupa- 

c<  tion  can  become  well-paid  and  well-respected.     Set  the  standard 

high,  and  high  wages  will  follow :  set  the  standard  high,  and  good 

schools  will  be  the  result :  set  the  standard  high,  and  teachers  will 

be  content  to  remain  in  the  schools. 

^^  Let  all  teachers  who  act  on  County,  City,  or  State  Boards  of  Ex- 
amination, discharge  their  duty  faithfully,  without  reference  to  the 
pressure  of  friends,  or  the  complaints  of  unsuccessful  applicants, 
v]^  ever  bearing  in  mind  the  duty  they  owe  to  the  schools,  the  people 
and  the  profession  of  teachingll 

Professionally  trained  teachers,  well-paid  for  their  work,   will 
bring  the  schools  up  to  their  fullest  measure  of  usefulness,  and  will 
^secure  from  the  people  the  most  liberal  support. 

Four  years  ago.  County  Institutes  were  held  in  only  two  or  three 
counties  in  the  State  ;  now,  the  law  requires  one  Annual  Institute 
in  every  county  having  ten  school  districts,  and  further  requires 
that  teachers  shall  attend,  and  that  trustees  shall  allow  their  wages 
to  continue  during  the  time  of  attendance. 

In  this  particular  it  is  the  most  progressive  law  on  record.  Al- 
ready the  Institutes  have  been  productive  of  great  good.  i 

Four  years  ago  there  was  not  a  Teachers'  Library  in  the  State, 
except  a  few  odd  volumes  in  San  Francisco. 

Now,  all  the  large  counties  have  begun  a  central  library,  and 
some  of  them  have  quite  extensive  ones. 

Four  years  ago  we  had  public  schools,  but  no  organized  system 
of  public  instruction. 

Now,  we  have  a  Central  State  Board  of  Education,  with  powers 
^more  extensive  than  have  ever  been  given  to  the  State  Board  of 
7\nj  other  State  in  the  Union. 

But  these  powers  are  for  systematizing,  not  for  controlling  or 
governing  the  schools  in  the  details  which  properly  belong  to  the 
local  school  officers. 

•  Four  years  ago  the  County  Schools  were  filled  with  an  innume- 
rable variety  of  different  text-books : — Arithmetics  of  every  date, 
from  Daboll's  and  Pike's  down  to  Thompson's  and  Greenleafs; 
Grammars,  from  Lindley  Murray  and  Smith,  to  Brown  and  Greene  ; 
Readers,  Spellers  and  Geographies  enough  to  fill  an  antiquarian 


book-store  :  these  books  were  changed,  sometimes  as  often  as  the 
teachers  :  there  was  no  possibihty  of  classification  or  systematic 
instruction  :  and  migratory  famiUes  of  half  a  dozen  children,  in 
moving  about,  accumulated  extensive  libraries  of  books,  which  repre- 
sented a  considerable  amount  of  capital  not  very  profitably  in- 
vested. 

Now,  we  have  a  uniform  series  of  modern  books,  with  which 
teachers  have  become  familiar  ;  the  schools  are  classified,  and  thous- 
ands of  dollars  are  annually  saved  to  the  pockets  of  parents.  None 
of  the  evils,  foretold  by  impracticable  teachers,  and  trustees  sus- 
picious of  monopoly,  have  come  to  pass.  The  only  losers  have  been 
the  book  publishers  and  dealers. 

We  have  a  course  of  study,  established  by  law,  by  means  of" 
which  teachers  are  enabled  to  pursue  an  intelligent  system  of  in- 
struction, in  spite  of  the  prejudices  of  parents  who  are  too  ignorant  ( 
to  comprehend  the  purpose  of  a  school. 

We  have  judicious  rules  and  regulations  estabhshed  by  law  to 
aid  teachers  in  enforcing  discipline  and  order.  In  no  other  State 
is  the  authority  of  the  teacher  so  well  established  and  defined  by 
law.  Every  district  school  in  the  State  is  placed  under  a  judicious 
system  of  general  rules  and  regulations. 

Four  years  ago,  school  statistics  were  notoriously  unreliable  ;  the 
records  were  kept  without  system,  in  old  blank  books  or  on  scraps 
of  paper,  and  often  were  not  kept  at  all :  now,  every  school  is  sup- 
plied with  a  State  School  Register,  so  simple  in  its  style  of  book- 
keeping that  the  most  careless  teacher  can  hardly  fail  to  keep  a 
reliable  record. 

Then,  trustees  wrote  their  oi:ders  to  County  Superintendents  on 
scraps  of  paper  without  much  regard  to  business  forms,  and  often 
without  keeping  any  accounts ;  now,  the  neat  order  books,  in  the 
style  of  bank  check  books,  furnished  by  the  Department  of  Instruc- 
tion, allow  of  no  excuse  for  failing  to  keep  a  financial  record  of 
money  paid  out. 

Then,  the  reports  of  Teachers,  Trustees  and  Census  Marshals 
were  complicated  and  cumbersome,  and  were  required  to  be  made 
in  triplicate  form  ;  now,  all  these  reports  have  been  reduced  to  the 
simplest  possible  business  forms,  and  are  required  to  be  made  in 
single  blanks  to  the  County  Superintendents. 

In  1862,  one  hundred  and  fifty  copies  of  the  Report  of  the 


10 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  were  allowed  the  office  of  the 
State  Superintendent  for  distribution ;  now,  4,000  copies  are  pub- 
lished, and  the  law  requires  that  a  copy  shall  be  sent  to  each  Board 
of  Trustees,  each  school  library,  each  County  Superintendent,  and 
that  two  hundred  and  fifty  copies  shall  be  bound  for  distribution  to 
.  the  School  Departments  of  other  States. 

^^Then,  there  were  no  school  libraries  ;  now,  a  library  is  begun  in 
every  school  district,  and  a  liberal  provision  is  made  for  their  enlarge- 
ment by  a  reservation  of  ten  per  cent,  of  the  State  School  Fund 
annually. 

The  influence  of  a  library  in  school  is  second  only  to  that  of  the 
teacher ;  and,  in  many  instances,  the  information  self-gleaned  by 
the  pupils  from  books,  is  the  most  valuable  part  of  their  common 
school  education.  Books  will  give  them  a  taste  for  reading,  make 
them  alive  to  knowledge,  and  start  them  on  a  plan  of  self-culture 
through  life.  A  teacher  may  fail  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  but 
.  the  influence  of  good  books  is  sure  and  lasting. 
i^^  Then,  most  of  the  County  Schools  were  destitute  of  maps, 
charts,  and  globes  ;  now,  most  of  them  are  suppUed. 

Then,  all  school  incidentals,  such  as  pens,  pencils,  ink  and  sta- 
tionery were  furnished  by  the  pupils  themselves,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence, half  of  the  children  were  generally  without  these  indispen- 
sable articles  ;  now,  they  are  furnished  by  the  district  to  the  pupils, 
free  of  expense. 

Without  mentioning  in  detail  other  provisions  of  our  Revised 
School  Law,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  it  has  received  the  warmest 
approbation  from  the  most  distinguished  educators  of  the  United 
States.  Hon.  Newton  Bateman,  Professor  William  Eussell,  Henry 
Barnard,  Wm.  H.  Wells,  Jno.  D.  Philbrick,  Jno.  S.  Hart,  and 
many  others,  unite  in  the  opinion  that  the  School  Law  of  California 
is  one  of  the  best  in  the  United  States,  and  in  some  points  decid- 
edly in  advance  of  any  in  the  older  States. 

Four  years  ago,  the  educators  of  the  East  hardly  knew  that  pub- 
lic schools  existed  at  all  in  California.  Now,  our  reports  are  found  in 
every  large  library  and  reading-room  in  the  United  States  ;  are  in  the 
hands  of  all  the  prominent  educators  of  the  East ;  are  sent  to  the 
Departments  of  Instruction  in  Europe  ;  and  are  still  requested  by 
letters  which  arrive  with  almost  every  steamer  mail.  The  Pres- 
ident of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  desirous  of  securing  for  publica- 


11 

tion  cuts  and  plans  of  some  of  the  best  school  houses  of  the  United 
States,  has  just  written  to  me  to  forward  those  of  the  Lincoln  and 
Denman  school  houses. 

When  we  consider  the  generally  depressed  condition  of  business  "l 
in  the  State  during  the  past  four  years  ;  the  heavy  losses  during  the 
mining  stock  mania ;  the  losses  by  flood  and  drought ;  the  gradual 
working  out  of  placer  mines,  and  the  consequent  depreciation  of 
property  in  many  places  ;  the  falling  off  in  the  trade  of  many 
mining  towns ;  the  unsettled  condition  of  land  titles  in  many  of  the 
agricultural  sections,  and  consequently  the  unsettled  condition  of 
the  people  ;  the  slow  increase  of  population  from  immigration,  and 
at  times  its  actual  decrease  in  consequence  of  attractive  mines  in 
neighboring  territories,  and  the  slow  increase  of  taxable  property — 
we  have  reason  to  be  proud  of  the  unexampled  progress  of  our 
Common  Schools. 

In  the  great  work  of  settling  and  civilizing  a  new  State — in  the 
building  of  cities,  the  construction  of  railroads,  the  cultivation  of 
farms,  the  development  of  quartz  mines,  the  beginning  of  manu- 
factures, and  all  the  varied  branches  of  industry — the  influence  of 
schools  is  lost  sight  of  in  the  figures  of  material  statistics  ;  and  it  is 
only  when  we  consider  that  the  50,000  children  now  in  the  schools, 
during  the  next  twenty  years  will  take  their  place  in  society  as  the 
workers  and  producers,  that  we  begin  to  realize  the  latent  power  of 
the  schools.  They  are  silently  weaving  the  network  of  mental  and 
moral  influences  which  underlie  civilization  ;  and  when  the  children 
shall  become  the  masters  of  the  material  wealth  of  the  State,  the 
influence  of  the  schools  will  begin  to  be  evident.  ^ 

While  we  may  feel  gratified  with  our  progress,  we  must  not  for- 
get that  much  remains  to  be  done.     Our  schools  still  fall  far  short 
of  the  work  which  is  pressing  upon  them.     We  need  better  methods 
of  instruction  ;  we  need  to  educate  pubHc  opinion  to  still  higher  ap- 
preciation of  the  value  and  necessity  of  education. 
^1  The  highest  purpose  of  the  public  schools  is  to  train  the  children  I 
to  become  good  citizens.  'It  is  not  enough  that  they  teach  the  ele-    V 
ments  of  an  intellectual  education.    They  have  a  higher  and  nobler  \ 
duty.    Education  implies  development,  training,  discipline  ;  a  repres-    / 
sion  of  bad  tendencies,  as  well  as  the  culture  of  good  ones.    The 
schools  should  train  to  habits  of  obedience  and  subordination,  of 
honesty  and  integrity.     They  should  inculcate  love  of  country  and 


< 


12 

love  of  liberty.     Thej  should  teach  the  duties,  rights,  privileges, 
and  honors  of  American  citizenship.     At  present,  how  imperfectly 

\As  this  great  work  done. 

Fellow  teachers  !  the  work  is  in  your  hands.  All  the  machinery 
of  school  law,  all  the  money  raised  by  school  taxes,  all  the  school 
houses  buil.t,  are  of  little  avail  if  you  fail  in  the  final  work  of 
actually  forming  and  moulding  mind  and  character.  But  your 
work  is  not,  indeed,  hmited  to  the  school  room  alone.  You  must 
make  your  influence  felt  on  society.  Attend  the  County  Institutes, 
write  essays,  and  engage  in  debates  and  discussions.  Write  for  the 
local  papers.  Subscribe  for  and  read  carefully  half  a  dozen  of  the 
best  school  journals  in  the  United  States,  and  learn  what  is  going 
on  in  the  educational  world.  Instead  of  complaining  about  the  lack 
of  interest  on  the  part  of  parents,  visit  every  family  in  the  district, 

T'^nd  wake  up  the  fathers  and  mothers  from  their  lethargy.  Hold 
frequent  examinations  and  exhibitions,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
the  people  in  direct  contact  with  the  school  and  its  influences. 
Start  a  subscription  to  increase  the  school  library.  A  little  money 
directly  from  the  pockets  of  the  parents  will  lead  to  a  better  appre- 
ciation of  the  value  of  books.     Harass  the  trustees  until  they  pur- 

""chase  school  apparatus,  furnish  new  desks,  or  build  a  new  school 
house,  if  one  is  needed.  If  a  special  tax  is  necessary,  canvass  the 
district  for  it  with  the  zeal  and  earnestness  of  a  professional  poli- 
tician. Visit  other  schools,  read  new  works  on  education,  and 
adopt  new  methods  of  instruction.  If  you  wrap  yourselves  up  in 
your  own  conceit,  and  imagine  that  nobody  can  tell  you  anything 
about  "  keeping  school,"  you  will  never  rank  among  the  pro- 
gressives. 

/*"  If  the  teacher  be  a  man  among  men,  he  will  command  respect ; 
but  if  he  confine  himself  to  the  school  room,  if  he  deal  only  with 
books  and  boys,  if  he  write  nothing,  say  nothing,  and  do  nothing, 
society  will  be  certain  to  estimate  him  by  value  received.  The  true 
teacher  should  be  a  thinker  and  a  doer.  The  scholarship  required 
of  the  teacher  is  a  peculiar  one.  There  is  a  sham  scholarship 
which  prides  itself  on  diplomas,  flaunts  Latinized  phrases,  and 
ignores  plain  Saxon.  There  are  pedants  who  hide  their  shallowness 
under  the  'veil  of  dullness.  Like  Wouter  Van  Twiller,  the  old 
Dutch  Governor  of  New  York,  they  gain  credit  for  knowing  a  vast 
deal  by  saying  nothing  at  all.     But  any  teacher  with  his  intellect- 


13 

ual  and  spiritual   faculties  in  good  working  condition,  can  be  a 
scholar,  whether  educated  in  the  schools  or  out  of  them. 

The  teacher,  above  all  others,  should  be  endowed  with  that  force 
of  character  which  stamps  its  impress  on  all  that  comes  in  contact 
with  it,  for  he  is  tested  by  what  he  does,  not  by  what  he  knows.  A 
living  man  is  wanted,  not  a  walking  library.  He  must  kindle  other 
souls  into  enthusiasm  by  a  spark  of  electric  fire  from  his  own. 

It  is  often  said  that  teaching  narrows  the  mind,  belittles  the  man, 
and  makes  him  merely  a  dray-horse  in  the  monotonous  round  of  the 
limited  circle  of  the  school  room.  It  may  be  so — it  sometimes  is 
so  ;  but  it  is  not  a  necessary  result,  if  the  teacher  have  in  him  any 
elements  of  progression.  The  same  holds  true  of  other  professions 
and  occupations :  the  thinker  grows,  and  the  imitator  dwarfs  and 
sinks  into  a  retailer  of  second-hand  thoughts. 

While  teachers  devote  themselves  to  the  training  of  boys  and 
girls,  let  them  not  neglect  their  own  mental  and  spiritual  develop- 
ment, bearing  in  mind,  with  Plato,  that  "man  cannot  propose  a(  ^ 
holier  object  of  study  than  education,  and  all  that  appertains  to 
education." 

We  are  apt  to  consider  immediate  results  rather  than  their  re- 
mote causes ;  and  hence  the  power  of  the  public  schools  is  seldom 
fully  realized. 

Light,  heat,  and  electricity  build  up  the  material  life  of  the  globe 
out  of  inorganic  matter,  yet  so  slowly  and  silently  that  we  hardly 
observe  the  workings  of  their  subtle  agencies.  So  the  schools  act 
upon  society,  and  organize  its  life  out  of  the  atoms  of  undeveloped 
humanity  attracted  to  the  school  rooms. 

A  few  weeks  since  I  visited  one  of  the  great  quartz  mills  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  State.  I  descended  the  deep  shaft,  where  stalwart  men 
were  blasting  and  delving  in  sohd  rock.  Above,  the  magnificent  mill, 
with  fifty  stamps,  like  some  gigantic  monster,  was  crushing  and  tearing 
the  white  quartz  with  its  iron  teeth  ;  and  I  saw  the  immediate  re- 
sult of  all  this  work  in  the  heavy  bars  of  pure  gold,  all  ready  to  be 
stamped  with  their  commercial  value,  and  to  enter  into  the  great 
channels  of  trade.  Then  I  entered  a  public  school  a  few  rods  dis- 
tant, where  a  hundred  children  were  sitting,  silently  learning  their 
lessons.  I  realized  the  relation  of  the  mill  and  mine  to  the  mate- 
rial prosperity  of  the  State  ;  but  the  school,  what  did  it  yield  ? 
I  rode  over  the  line  of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  from  the 


P 


14- 

spring  time  of  Sacramento  into  the  snowy  winter  of  the  Sierra, 
and  I  saw  the  beginning  of  the  great  commercial  aorta  of  a  conti- 
nent. On  its  cuts,  and  embankments,  and  rails,  and  locomotives, 
more  money  had  already  been  expended  than  has  been  paid  for 
schools  since  the  history  of  our  State  began.  I  could  see  the 
tangible  results  of  the  labor  expended  upon  the  road  ;  but  where 
should  I  look  for  the  value  received  to  balance  the  cost  of  the 
schools  ?  After  thundering  down  on  its  iron  rails  from  the  moun- 
tain summits,  I  stepped  into  the  Sacramento  High  School,  and  I 
thought  to  myself:  What  are  these  boys  and  girls  doing,  compared 
with  the  men  who  are  paving  the  great  highway  of  a  nation  ? 

I  go  out  into  the  streets  of  this  great  city  ;  I  hear  everywhere 
the  hum  of  industry  ;  I  see  great  blocks  of  buildings  going  up 
under  the  hands  of  busy  mechanics  ;  I  see  the  smoke  of  the  ma- 
chine shops  and  foundries,  where  skillful  artizans  are  constructing 
the  marvelous  productions  of  inventive  genius ;  I  see  the  clipper 
ships  discharging  their  cargoes  ;  drays  are  thundering  over  the  pave- 
ment; the  banks  are  open,  and  keen-sighted  capitalists  are  on 
'Change ;  and  when  I  go  to  visit  some  Uttle  school  room,  where  a 
quiet  woman  is  teaching  reading  and  spelhng  to  the  little  children, 
the  school  seems  to  be  something  distinct  from  the  busy  life 
outside. 

A  short  time  ago,  I  saw  that  ocean  leviathan,  the  "■  Colorado," 
swing  majestically  out  into  the  stream,  amid  the  shouts  of  thousands 
of  assembled  spectators,  and  glide  off  through  the  Golden  Gate,  to 
weave  a  network  of  commercial  interests  between  the  Occident  and 
the  Orient ;  and  when,  a  few  days  after,  I  stood  in  the  Lincoln 
School  House,  where  a  thousand  boys  were  reciting  their  lessons, 
I  asked :  What  are  they  doing  for  the  city  in  return  for  a  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  invested  in  the  house,  and  $20,000 
a  year  paid  to  the  teachers  ?  The  steamship  comes  back  with  its 
passengers  and  freight,  and  makes  its  monthly  returns  of  net  profits  ; 
but  when  will  the  school  show  its  balance  sheet  ? 
V  But  when  I  pause  to  remember  that  the  steam  engine  was  once 
but  a  dim  idea  in  the  brain  of  a  boy ;  that  intelligence  is  the  motive 
power  of  trade  and  commerce  ;  that  the  great  city,  with  banks  and 
warehouses  and  princely  residences,  has  been  built  up  by  intelHgent 
labor ;  that  in  the  construction  and  navigation  of  the  ocean  steamer 
so  many, of  the  principles  of  art  and  science  must  be  applied — I  see 


15 

in  the  public  school,  with  its  busy  brains,  an  engine  mightier  than 
one  of  steam  ;  and  the  narrow  aisles  of  the  school  room  broaden  into 
the  wide  and  thronged  streets  of  the  great  city.  I  know  that  the 
school  boys  will  soon  become  w^orkers  :  that  one  will  command  the 
steamship,  and  one  will  become  the  engineer ;  one  will  be  a  di- 
rector of  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad,  and  one  will  ride  over  it  to 
take  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States ;  one  will  own  the 
quartz  mill ;  another  will  build  the  machinery,  and  another  still 
will  nivent  some  improved  method  of  working  its  ores  ;  one  will  be 
the  merchant  who  shall  direct  the  channels  of  trade  ;  one  will  be 
the  president  of  the  Bank,  and  another  shall  frame  laws  for  the 
protection  of  all  those  varied  interests — and  the  teacher,  whose 
occupation  seemed  so  disconnected  from  the  progress  of  human 
affairs,  becomes  a  worker  on  mind  which  shall  hold  the  mastery 
over  material  things. 

I  go  out  at  night  and  wing  my  way  in  imagination  from  star  to 
star,  from  island-universe  to  island-universe,  and  to  the  dim 
nebulae  which  lie  like  films  of  light  on  the  darkness  of  space,  and  I 
vainly  strive  to  form  some  faint  conception  of  the  scale  on  which 
the  universe  is  built — of  the  mutual  attractions,  relations,  and  rev- 
olutions of  the  atoms  of  starry  hght  that  fill  the  universe  with 
splendor. 

So,  when  I  ponder  on  the  subtle  relations  of  the  teacher  to  the 
nebulous  atoms  of  forming  mind  which  must  soon  condense  into 
society ;  when  I  think  how  his  power  over  one  mind  will  extend  to 
hundreds,  the  circle  ever  widening  with  time,  until  their  relations 
become  as  complicated  as  the  complex  attractions  of  the  stars,  and 
their  influence  as  far-reaching  and  as  sure  as  that  of  gravity — I 
vainly  strive  to  measure  the  responsibilities  of  the  teacher,  or  the  i 
results  of  his  work. 

The  State  Institute,  four  years  ago,  was  a  starting-point  of  pro-  ' 
gross ;  let  us  hope  that  this  Institute  will  give  another  fresh  impulse 
to  popular  education,  and  professional  enthusiasm. 

Four  years  ago,  I  left  the  school  room,  where  I  had  been  for 
nine  years  continuously  engaged  in  teaching,  to  enter  upon  the 
duties  of  the  office  of  Superintendent  of  Pubhc  Instruction.  I 
did  not  deem  the  office  a  more  honorable  one  than  that  of  teaching ; 
but  it  offered  a  wider  field  of  usefulness. 

My  term  of  office  is  now  drawing  to  a  close  ;  and  as  I  may  not 


\ 


I 


16 

again  meet  you  officially,  you  will  pardon  a  brief  allusion  to  my 
own  work.  I  have  not  found  the  office  a  sinecure ;  I  have  not 
eaten  the  bread  of  idleness  or  ease :  for  the  past  four  years'  work 
has  been  the  hardest  of  my  life. 

Traveling  and  lecturing  more  than  half  the  time ;  attending 
County  Institutes  ;  editing  the  California  Teacher  ;  conducting 
State  Examinations ;  twice  revising  the  School  Law,  and  attending 
three  sessions  of  the  Legislature  to  secure  its  passage ;  preparing 
rules  and  regulations  •  and  course  of  study  for  the  public  schools  ; 
answering  the  extensive  correspondence  consequent  upon  so  many 
radical  changes  in  school  laws ;  preparing  State  reports,  and  his- 
torical sketches  of  education — my  powers  of  endurance  have  been 
taxed  to  the  utmost  limit. 

I  sought  the  office  for  the  purpose  of  raising  the  standard  of  pro- 
fessional teaching,  and  for  organizing  a  State  system  of  free 
schools.     I  am  willing  to  leave  the  verdict  to  the  future. 

If  w^hen  my  present  term  of  office  expires,  I  fall  back  into  the 
ranks  as  a  private,  I  shall  feel  proud  of  my  profession,  for  I  hold 
none  more  honorable,  and  to  it  I  expect  to  devote  my  life. 

I  love  the  State  of  my  adoption ;  I  am  proud  of  her  educational 
record.  I  hope  to  see  Cahfornia  as  distinguished  for  her  common 
schools,  her  colleges,  her  institutions  of  learning,  as  she  has  been 
for  the  enterprise  of  her  people,  and  the  mineral  wealth  of  her 
mountains. 

I  feel  that  her  future  prosperity  is  closely  related  to  the  educa- 
tion of  her  people,  for  the  solid  wealth  of  any  State  consists  in 
educated  and  industrious  men  and  women;  and  if  the  common 
schools  are  kept  up  to  the  full  measure  of  their  usefulness,  her 
future  glory  will  be  not  so  much  in  her  mines,  her  scenery,  or  her 
cHmate,  as,  in  the  inteUigence,  integrity,  morality  and  patriotism  of 
a  people  that  shall  make  wealth  a  servant  of  science,  art,  Hterature 
and  religion. 


'* 


ToU^     ^ffo^ld'-'^^'P/^  DEPARTMENT 
'Q^-»      ^02  Mam  Library 

LOAN  PERIOD  ] 
HOME  USE 


ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

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Books  may  be  Renewed  by  calling     642-3405. 


DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


M 


FORM  NO.  DD6 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  BERKELEY 
BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


LD  2lA-38m-5,'68 
(J401slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

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>i7 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  UBRARY 


